Grove of Blooming Hope
by Unicorn Chronicles
Summary: Cataclysm caused many things to happen to the world of Azeroth. Mainly death and destruction to the beloved planet. However, it did have its good things. Karnum's Grove was proof of that. A young troll quickly realizes that nature is to be protected, and that sometimes love can bloom in the strangest of places.


Hello. I see you have clicked on my story, so thanks for that. I do apologize ahead of time for any mistakes. I haven't really re-read anything. I'm also going to apologize for the ending. I know the romance was rushed, and I'm sorry, but I didn't want to spend forever on it. Please enjoy and leave a review.

Disclaimers: I don't own WoW but Lyan and Sinju are my own characters.

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Sinju roamed through the depressing sands of Desolace with a long sigh. The young troll passed many ancient kodo bones. Most of them were buried in the sands, but the large bones couldn't go unseen by anyone. He had tripped over many leg, or even rib bones that had been puncturing the scratchy grain. He looked up to the sky and sighed once more. It was always like this, so he heard. Dark sky and gray clouds roaming around.

On the bright side, he could make out a lush forest-like place over this hill. Sinju nudged his raptor forward. The red beast clicked its claws in disagreement. The raptor was tired, having traveled so long across Kalimdor. "We be almost dere." He patted his companion for reassurance and got a soft screech, almost like a sigh in raptor tongue, out of the beast. So they pressed on, the vibrant hues of green and purple already seeming to light the ruins of sand up.

To Sinju it had felt like hours since he was on that hill looking over the beautiful area that he now stood in. He hadn't even known such a place existed in Desolace... and it hadn't. Not until the Cataclysm at least. He was unsure about it at first, in disbelief even, but this is where the tauren woman had sent him. He had recently helped her with a naga issue north west of here. She had been apart of the Cenarion Circle, or so she said. So of course he trusted her. He almost snickered. "Of course de druids be here."

Sinju walked down the stone path, his two-toed feet aching from the long trek. He watched with slight caution as giant trees walked around the lush area. His fingers twitched, wanting to reach for his bow just in case the purple leafed giant decided he wanted troll flesh for lunch. Of course he resisted, knowing the Ancient's of Lore were here to protect and not destroy. He looked around with new found curiosity. In the heart of the formerly barren area a night elf shrine sat. The water in the shrine sparkled and glowed brightly, the small glittering shine floating and fading into the air. Trees loomed over the area and seemed to shield the place from the sky. All but a single glowing strand of moonlight shone down in the middle and it illuminated the whole area. Gazelle and hippogryphs could be seen walking and flying about without a single care. The place was breath taking.

The troll quickly realized he was standing in awe after several minutes. He hadn't even entered the Cenarion grove yet, just standing in front of it looking flabbergasted. Much to his protesting feet's dismay, he slowly made his was forward. Two night elven men stood tall on either side of the pathway. Their golden eyes locked on Sinju but did not make a single movement. It took the troll all of his will power not to fire at them. He had to remember that the Cenarion Circle was graced with both tauren and night elves. Still, night elves were a race of the Alliance, the exact faction Horde was constantly at war with. He sucked in his breath and walked past them with tense movements. He released his breath once he was finally inside the grove. He stared up at the large shrine and began to walk up the ramp. At the top was a male tauren, behind him sat an old looking hippogryph.

"Ah... I've been expecting you." The tauren spoke wisely in orcish. The troll glanced at the bull. He looked strong, muscles rippling over his arms and torso. He had coal black fur and long white horns that curled at the end. Like most male tauren, he had a large golden septum. His beard was tied into a braid that danced around each time the bull moved or even breathed. He had similar braids for the longer pieces of mane hair that hung over his shoulders. "I am Karnum Marshweaver... welcome to Karnum's Glade friend." He smiled and the troll shook his hand warmly. "The winds of change are blowing, troll. Of that there can be no doubt. There are many pressing issues vying for our attention and action. Chief among them is the spreading of our growing oasis. Its growth has surpassed our hopes as well as our understanding, yet now it faces opposition. To the west, where the grass meets the sand, whirlwinds prevent its penetration into the desert. Go and eliminate this hostile obstacle to life!" The tauren looked the troll's figure over and nodded. "But first... rest. It would do no good to set out after such a long journey, and at such an hour at that." Sinju sighed with relief and nodded. He headed the the nearest place to sleep, which was thankfully an inn, and was over ecstatic to have a bed all to his self.

Sinju had slept peacefully. Not once had he awoken during the star filled night. The crickets hummed their tune and it helped him rest easier. It hadn't been hot like he was accustomed to in the barrens. Sometimes change was nice, and to him it was a very nice change. He didn't have to wake up to sweat ridden clothes and at a loss of breath from the constricting, boiling air. No, here it was at a comfortable temperature. He could easily snuggle under the covers, neither hot or cold. It was something he really could look into. Thus, it took all of his will to climb out of the elven bed.

He had gotten up at dawn. As he left the inn he had to stop and admire the beautiful oranges and yellows slipping between the cracks of the trees and into the glade. The sight before him reminded him of why nature was something to protect. It was fragile and easily destroyed. He bid a good morning to the many different druids as he walked past them. He whistled for his companion, who was at his side moments later. He looked out into the desert area of Desolace and knew that today was going to be a long one.

The weather was strange here, he had to admit. Karnum's Glade was warm and quite pleasant. However, once you were in the sandy part of Desolace, it was humid and almost unbearable. Sinju sighed as he wiped the sweat from his pink brow. "Dis heat almost be as bad as de barrens, aye boy?" His raptor squawked in reply, his razor sharp claws clicking together as they climbed up the giant, dusty hill. "De whirlwinds be aroun' here somewhere." Once they reached the top he stood at his full height and rolled his shoulders around, satisfied when he heard a pop.

Sinju lifted his head to a strange noise. It sounded similar to a tornado, a few cackles that reminded him of lightning. His raptor screeched and charged, Sinju barely had time to disengage before a storm-like claw slashed at his face. The whirlwind stormwalker began to cast a shock bolt at him and the hunter aimed a scatter shot at the elemental, causing it to wander confused. Sinju took that short moment to summon a hunter's mark above its head. He knocked back his bow with an arrow covered in a sickly green poison and released it. The arrow seemed to twirl in a dance through the sky as it penetrated the element's chest. It buzzed louder in fury, but changed its attention to his raptor. Steady shots after arcane shots and the whirlwind still wasn't going down. He could tell he was weak, so as a last resort he used his special beastmastery trick. His raptor obeyed as his master called out for a kill-command. That seemed to do the trick as the elemental roared, twirling into the air before dissolving. All that remained was the bracers it once wore and the troll wasted no time in picking them up. They'd sell for a decent price.

Now if the troll had remembered correctly, the tauren druid had only told him to kill five whirlwind stormwalkers. Of course, on his journey back after killing five of said things, he kept getting attacked. In the end, he had slayed at least fifteen. They were a real pain as well. Because the elements were made of essentially dust and lightning, his arrows seemed to fly right through them at times if he hadn't aimed correctly. He was aware it had been a good two and a half hours, the sun now fully out. The warm air welcomed him when he got back to the glade. He tiredly walked up to the shrine, the tauren awaiting him eagerly. "It be done, mon. I kill five plus an additional ten." He opened up his bag full of their bracers as proof.

"You've done well, hunter." Karnum boomed loudly. He slipped thirty silver into the troll's awaiting palm and smiled. "We will doubtlessly call upon you for assistance with more significant matters in the future." He nodded and motioned to another tauren near some sort of wagon. "Sell your things to him and then return to the inn for a meal. I am quite aware you have not had anything since yesterday." The troll nodded solemnly and retreated down from the shrine. He sold his things and got at least two gold from everything. That would be enough to purchase a meal.

Sinju looked down and stuffed his hands into his leather pockets. He watched as his two toed, purple feet inched their way slowly to the inn's direction. He sighed and looked up just as someone bumped right into him. Due to him being a strong, well trained troll, he hadn't fallen over like the other person had. It did shock him, however, and he had to blink a few times to register what just happened. "Aye, watch where ya'-" His words caught in his throat and his eyes grew wide as the person who bumped into him got up off the ground and brushed themselves off. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Please excuse me, I'll be more careful next time, I assure you." Just as quick as the person got up, they'd vanished. Sinju looked around to find them, but his trained eyes couldn't lock targets. He sighed, giving up, and walked into the inn for that well earned meal.

The hunter was happy to find the innkeeper handing out bowls of oyster stew and fresh bread to the hard working souls. He paid a fair price for a bowl and quietly sat in the corner. Even though this wasn't exactly a morning food, he was starving enough to not care. He dipped the bread into the creamy stew and almost moaned in delight as he bit into it. As he began to eat his soup, it dawned on him that he had to feed his raptor as well. He would go kill a kodo or something later for him, or maybe the inn keeper had some kind of meat to spare. Sinju practically licked his bowl clean and as he took it back, he polished off whatever bread was left. "It be good, mon. Nice job on da stew." The elven innkeeper smiled in return and the troll grabbed his bow to leave.

Sinju had overheard an undead and orc talking as he had eaten his food. They said something about a night elf needed help with something and was offering a reward. Lucky for the troll, he finished first so... he'd help her and get the coin. He snickered and began searching for the night elf they had spoken of. He didn't have to search long because a female druid had called him over. She was pretty, he supposed, for a night elf. Her skin was a very light purple, much like his own but lighter. Her hair was an aqua, short with a small bit pulled into a ponytail in the back. Next to her, however, was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Not even the trolls back in Sen'jin looked this good to him. She had long green hair that reminded him of moss, skin such a pretty light pink. The markings on her face were leafs, also green. "What ya be needin'?" He somehow mustered out.

The night elf smiled."I am Ferrah, young one. You must be Sinju, Karnum has told me of your deed." The troll nodded a yes, and Ferrah proceeded. "I called you over because I have a task. A very important one. No one knows better than the Cenarion Circle that this luch oasis could dry up as quickly as it appeared." She folded her arms and eyed the troll. "We must take care not to interfere with the processes taking place here, but to support and preserve them. Understand?" Again the troll nodded but found it excruciatingly hard to focus, his eyes mainly on the elven beauty beside Ferrah. "A new species of plant, very plentiful in the surrounding region, has appeared since the great change. Collect samples of these for me, that I might study them and learn what they have to teach us. Ten will do, and your reward will be thirty silver. Oh and... Lyandria will accompany you." She motioned to the night elf next to her and dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

Ten plants. Sinju could defiantly handle it. He guessed thirty silver would due. Buy him another meal at least. Of course... it would be hard to focus. The night elf next to him smelled of light rain and maple. It soothed him... and if he was honest with himself he would admit that he wanted to rub his tusks against her cheek and claim her, so that way his sent would forever be apart of hers. Sadly, that was slightly creepy so he held his will power. The night elf, Lyandria, had not spoken and he was curious as to if she was shy or just didn't have an actual voice. He shrugged it off though. Right now he had to clear his head and focus on the mission of... flower picking. They continued the walk to their destination like that. In silence. It was peaceful, Sinju admitted. Things always seem to come to a closure sooner or later though.

He seen it before he felt it. There was a large flash of yellow and before he could grab his bow the basilisk latched onto his arm. "Oi mon!" Sinju hissed in pain and kicked the beast in the face. It was enough for the basilisk to detach itself. It shook its head trying to shake the daze away. He jumped back just as the animal lunged at him again. It would have succeeded too, if Lyandria hadn't summoned entangling roots around its body. There was a blinding light of purple and an exploding sound. The druid had cast a moonfire, burning the basilisk over time. The entangling roots faded after this, and the beast set its eyes on her. It snarled and snapped its jaws, completely furious. Before the beast could attack her, Sinju aimed weakly due to the bite on his bow string arm, and fired an arcane shot at it. The arrow impact, plus the double arcane damage, killed the beast within seconds. "Are... you alright, Lyandria?" He huffed and knelt down to where she had at some point in time fallen backwards trying to back away from the beast.

She nodded hesitantly and looked into his tropical orange orbs. "What of you...?" She spoke softly, her words flowing without a single imperfection like a river. "Your the one who got bit... please allow me to take a look..." Her voice was melodious and enchanting; refreshing as a warm summers breeze. To be honest... the voice sounded familiar. Not to mention the look she gave him. He knew that look all too well. It was the look of a healer. Lyandria carefully took his arm and pulled up his leather sleeve. The troll winced as it rubbed the wrong way. "Sorry..." She mumbled. They were fortunately next to the lake. She cupped water between her hands and gently washed away the blood. She carefully wrapped her hands around the wound. A beautiful green erupted from her palms, circling his arm in swirls of glowing hues. It soothed his punctured flesh as it mended the bite and soon all was left was a few scars where the wound once was.

"I thank ya' greatly." He smiled slightly, the look of admiration in his eyes. Sinju stood and held his hand out for her, which she took. They stared at each other for a moment, their eyes locked in some sort of trance. He gracefully swept a thumb over her cheek, cleaning it from a smudge of dirt from when she fell. She blushed a tint of pink and touched her cheek shyly. It was a cute addition and it made him want to chuckle. And suddenly he knew why she sounded and looked familiar. "M' sorry.. I yelled at ya' earlier. When ya' bumped inta' me..." He mumbled and her eyes went wide with realization.

"That was entirely my fault." She shook her head and backed away slightly, much to his disappointment. "I should have been paying attention to where my feet were carrying me." She sheepishly looked at her shoulder pads and fumbled with them to keep from looking at him. They were covered in moss and twigs, a common tier worn by druids. Of course, it didn't seem to radiate off of them like it did with her. The antler headband she wore around her head was aimed at him due to her head being down. "We should... start looking for the aloe thistles." Lyandria slowly looked up at him and he nodded in return.

"Aye." Sinju faced the water, scouting the rocks that sat in the middle of said lake. Sadly, there were basilisk covering them. They would have to be careful about their business, take them out one by one. Maybe they could handle two since he had a healer now but he didn't want to take the chance and risk her life. He stuck his big toe in the water and shrugged. "Da water be fine, we'll cross over." It was only waist deep, so there was no issue there.

They walked through the water cautiously, trying not to force a lot of attention on themselves. There were two basilisk on the large rock in front of them, along with a aloe thistle. He aimed his bow and without warning to the druid, he let the string go and an arrow fly. It hit the beast dead in the center of the back, green poison seeping into it's veins. Another arrow followed suit, this one a steady shot. It was enough to kill it, but it was also enough to drag the attention of the other basilisk. It hissed and began to charge at the troll, but Lyandria was quicker. She leaped into the air and midway her skin rippled. Hands and feet turned into paws and claws, skin doubling over in fur. She pounced the second basilisk and clawed at it's stomach. She sank her teeth into its neck and ripped a chunk away. Once she was finished and felt like it was good and dead she bounced off and was in her humanoid form once again. The troll gaped in awe at her and she smirked.

"Just because I master the art of healing does not mean I cannot defend for myself." The troll remained in silence, still starstruck. The elf rolled her eyes and turned to the aloe thistle. She knelt down and examined it. The plant was a copper red around the roots and navy the rest of the way up. It had thorns around it but with her being a herbalist she knew what she was doing.

Sinju watched as the elf worked her magic on uprooting the thistle. He spotted another one close by, but near another basilisk. "Aye, dere be another. Stay here and I'll go an' get it." The elf lifted her head to let the troll know that she heard and acknowledged his words. He smiled toothily and went to retrieve the other thistle. Killing the basilisk hadn't been hard at all. He had caught it off guard and a single arrow to the head was all it took. He uprooted the plant a lot less gracefully than she had but that's not what mattered. When he turned to walk back to her, she was already behind him. He jumped slightly, eyes wide. "I thought I told ya' ta wait!" She only blinked at him.

"But I was done and there was nothing else for us to do over there. Besides... your hands are bleeding." She sighed and slipped her warm hands into his. Once again the soothing green nature seeped into his finger tips and palms, healing the minor cuts from the prickly plant. "You must be careful when dealing with unknown species of plants. Let me pick them for now on..." She smiled softly at him, her hands still on his even after the healing stopped.

"Ya' be too kind ta a troll." He grinned and took the thistle from her. Sinju placed it in the bag with the other one and began scouting for more. "So we be needin' eight more..." He sighed, not seeing any in line of sight. "I guess we be needin' ta venture through da water some more..." He looked at her for approval and she nodded. Hand in hand they walked through the crystal clear water. As time passed and the sun slowly made its way through the sky, they talked and learned more about one another.

Lyandria was born into the Alliance originally. She was brought up in a home of feral druids so when the young druid herself began healing the wounds of the earth her family sent her off to become a druid of the Cenarion Circle. She learned orcish from her fellow tauren druid and no longer was the Horde's enemy. She stood tall and proud as a neutral faction and it was her dream to one day become an arch druid.

As for Sinju, his past had a little more devastation. He was raised as a proud Darkspear troll. He and his family lived in Sen'jin Village for years until Vol'jin finally decided to claim the Echo Isles once more as their own. The troll's father had refused that he and his mother take part in it, so due to this Sinju taught himself the ways of a hunter. It was then that he had tamed his raptor companion. His mother learned of his secret but was accepting and the day his tribe invaded Echo Isle, he and his mother joined. It was an unfortunate fate, but his mother had been slain in the uprising. Their victory of claiming the isle did not feel as such. Grief wiped away any sort of triumph. When his father learned of the news he was absolutely devastated. He blamed Sinju for her death and because of this, he claimed the troll shamed his family and no longer claimed him as his son. "An' das why I left... I will earn the family name once more by helpin' da world..."

Lyandria looked at him sadly and squeezed his hand. "You did the right thing by helping your people in the war." Sinju returned the stare and softly smiled. Neither of them realized it in that moment, but the bond between the two had grew magnificently. Soon they would become inseparable. Their hearts slowly synced with one another, and soon they'd come to see just how much one needed the other. Like a flower needed the sun.

They had gathered nine thistles during their story telling. Needing only one more, the troll raked through his hot pink mohawk as he looked around. He could feel the sweat spread across his hand as he did so, the droplets gathering in his locks. Lyandria had seemed to be looking around as well. She stood on her tiptoes every so often as if it'd help locating one. His eyes lit up as he spotted one. It hid behind a tree, but the navy colored leafs with sharp prickles confirmed it. He sighed with relief as he practically ran over, expecting to have the elf behind him. He knelt down to the plant and smiled. "Finally.. we be done. Go ahead and pick it... da sooner da better."He chuckled. No reply... no sound of movement. "Lyandria?" The troll stood and turned to have his eyes set on nothing. His heart beat quickened instantly. "Lyandria?!" His eyes darted all around for the green-haired night elf. His heart was pounding in his chest and he feared for the worst. The basilisk... enraged kodo... the killer plants. He was so lost in thought, he barely registered the voice behind him.

"I found one... but I guess you did too."

Sinju turned around with his eyes wide like saucers. He moved so quickly, his eyes were a blur for a moment. He hadn't even told his feet to move. He wrapped his arms around the young druid and hugged her tightly. This caused her to drop the aloe plant she was holding, and it was her turn for her eyes to grow wide. "Dun scare me like dat... I thought..." He pulled back just enough to look at her beautiful eyes that reminded him of the moonlight. She could feel his heart beat racing, and she was more then sure he could feel hers."I thought I was going ta loose ya..." Slowly he lowered his head and gently rubbed his large tusk against her cheek. It was something trolls did to claim their mate. His scent would be present on her so no other could take her. The elf held tightly onto the troll's leather tunic and pulled him closer, their lips meeting in a such a passion that not even a burning fire could match. They parted long enough for him to utter "I love ya'...".

Unknown to the two, a small bud began to sprout from the ground. It bloomed into a gorgeous blossom. It would forever symbolize the love that the two shared in this beautiful grove of hope.

Fin.~


End file.
